Transparent displays enable a background behind the display to be viewed as well as the display output. The display thus has a certain level of transmittance. Transparent displays have many possible applications such as windows for buildings or automobiles and show windows for shopping malls. In addition to these large device applications, small devices such as hand held tablets may also benefit from transparent displays, for example to enable a user to view a map as well the scenery ahead though the screen.
It is expected that much of the existing display market will be replaced by transparent displays, for example in the fields of construction, advertisement and public information. Transparent displays are not yet available with 3D viewing capability, and in particular not yet using glasses-free autostereoscopic approaches, such as with lenticular lenses.
A transparent display typically has a display mode when the viewer is intended to view the display content, and a window mode when display is off and the viewer is intended to be able to see-through the display. A conventional combination of a lenticular lens on top of a display, as is common in autostereoscopic 3D displays, causes a problem if the display is transparent as the lenticular lens will cause a distorted view of the image behind the display. Thus, the window mode does not provide a proper view of the scene behind the window.
For 2D transparent displays, the optical performance of a transparent display can also be reduced by excessive light transmitted through the display whereby the contrast is poor.